By MARK GRUENBERG
PAI Staff Writer
Washington (PAI) – Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nod, is claiming the Teamsters might endorse his 2024 presidential run.
In a half-hour press conference, ex-Oval Office occupant Trump also forecast he’d get a lot of Teamsters votes when he makes another run. He claimed, without proof, he may have gotten more than 50 percent of Teamsters in 2020, even though the union endorsed Democrat Joe Biden.
Instead, Trump based his confidence on the good relationships he said he had with the Teamsters and other unions during his years as a New York City developer. That’s when he predicted the Teamsters might endorse him.
“Stranger things have happened,” he commented.
Trump’s reasoning? “Over the years I have employed thousands and thousands of Teamsters” in his construction business. “They’ve done a great job. Especially in New York, where we have a lot of unions.”
UNION MEMBERS SAY NO
The session, arranged by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, followed an earlier one-on-one O’Brien-Trump meeting. O’Brien caught flak for that and there was even more, from the Twitterverse, including from Teamsters:
- “I am a union man of 56 years,” tweeted Ralph Palmieri. “In years past the union has supported Republicans and Democrats…Our members lean toward the right but most are Democrats. To think the Teamsters would support Trump is laughable. Take a look at the numbers of the Teamsters driving trucks now who are minorities. They don’t have anything in common with the Trump and his minions.”
- “I’m a retired Teamster in good standing,” Julip4 tweeted. “Trump can go blank himself.”
- “Trump’s union of one, himself, was organized to protect his interests,” Kennicott tweeted. “Any union member who votes for Trump is a fool. He hates unions and will destroy them if he becomes president.”
- “When Biden was on the picket line, Trump purposefully made his one appearance on the same day at a plant that was non-union lol,” BHVBum tweeted. “Do you think the Teamsters can spot a con?”
- “He’s a Scab, A Cheat, A Union Buster, an Insurrectionist and Violently Anti-Democratic. This Scab has packed the courts with anti-union judges that prevent working people from getting a fair wage,” tweeted AB6250. “He loves to lie to your face. BUT WE’RE ON TO HIM.
“He loves to lie more than anything — especially when it means pushing people to commit violent acts against our democratic way of life and to attack law enforcement,” that tweeter added. “I’m sticking with the unions.”
NORMAL MEETING IN ELECTION YEAR
O’Brien has said such meetings between the Teamsters and presidential hopefuls are normal.
But Trump is not a normal White House candidate — and not just because of his markedly documented anti-worker record during his prior presidential term.
After all, no other presidential hopeful faces millions of dollars in fines for both his misogyny and for cheating both New York state of taxes and lying to his lenders about his wealth. Nor does any other presidential hopeful ever face 91 criminal counts in D.C., Georgia and Florida.
INSURRECTION
Most cover his role in directing and abetting an invasion, insurrection and coup d’etat attempt at the U.S. Capitol three years ago to retain the Oval Office he had lost to Biden. Federal criminal charges in D.C. declare Trump deprived Americans of their voting rights and right to have votes counted correctly, due to his orders and incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
RACKETEERING AND CONSPIRACY
A Georgia state case charges Trump led a wide racketeering conspiracy to steal that swing state’s electoral votes in 2020, too. That trial, with dozens of charges, can’t be stopped by White House action if Trump wins in November. The federal trials can be dropped.
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
Plus, a federal case in Florida deals with Trump’s purloining of secret papers from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago estate and disclosing secrets — such as how many nukes one U.S. sub carries — to unauthorized people, including an Australian magnate.
DICTATOR ‘ON DAY ONE’
And, of course, Trump’s proclaimed he’d be a dictator “on day one” if elected. Nobody believes he’d stop then, given his past declarations he would trash parts of the U.S. Constitution and his appeals to his white nationalist followers, who polls show prefer “strong men” and who disdain and hate democracy.
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